GOOD SAMARITAN!

Danny McNamara wants to help raise awareness of the organisation's email service...

Embrace frontman DANNY McNAMARA is spearheading a campaign to raise awareness for the SAMARITANS email service.

The singer is lending his support to the campaign aimed at 16-25 year olds. Launching on November 8, the campaign will promote the 24-hour confidential email service, which offers support and advice to one of the most emotionally vulnerable age groups.

“Basically they’re giving people who wouldn’t normally use the phone to talk about their problems the chance for someone to reach out and help them,” McNamara explained to NME.COM.

“It gives them a feeling that they have bit more control over the exchange. If you’re talking to someone on the phone you could get pushed into saying something that you didn’t actually mean. If you’ve got an email, you’ve got a chance to really think about what you want to say, particularly if you’re trying to say something really difficult and personal. It’s less daunting.”

New research conducted by the charity shows that many people feel that their problems aren’t serious enough to use the phone service, but they are much more likely to talk about their worries though an email.

“I remember when I was younger and I went through a really rough time between 19 and 22. One of the only things that was there that gave me practical help was the Samaritans.

“It’s where I’m at. Other charities have asked me to be involved, and there are only so many hours in the day, but when The Samaritans asked it really felt like I could connect with it because I’ve used in myself.

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“The possibilities using the net are immense. Anybody that writes in gets put on a list, and everyone gets a reply. The average answer back time is seven hours. Less than one in five people know about this, if everyone knew about it, imagine how many people would use it. If we can make NME readers know about it, we could actually make a massive difference and stop two young people dying every day from suicide in this country.”